LEAF TTC Urban Forest Demonstration Gardens

Category:

Education and Training

LEAF TTC Urban Forest Demonstration Gardens

LEAF - Local Enhancement & Appreciation of Forests

Locations

Old Mill Subway Station Toronto, Ontario

Canada

High Park Subway Station - Quebec Ave Exit Toronto, Ontario

Canada

St. Clair Subway Station - Pleasant Blvd Exit Toronto, Ontario

Canada

Bathurst Subway Station - Markham Rd Exit Toronto, Ontario

Canada

Spadina Subway Station - Walmer Rd Exit Toronto, Ontario

Canada

Our Urban Forest Demonstration Gardens are a result of a partnership with the Toronto Transit Commission. We transform underused turf areas, located outside subway stations, into beautiful urban forest demonstration gardens.

Goals:

Demonstrate the beauty of natural spaces planted with native species and inspire passers by to consider native plants for their own gardens.

Provide hands-on opportunities for LEAF's Tree Tender Volunteer Training Program Graduates and volunteers to steward the urban forest in their community.

Foster a sense of community ownership.

The Full Story

There are currently five TTC Demonstration gardens planted outside subway stations; at Old Mill, Bathurst, St. Clair, High Park, and Spadina stations.

We stress the importance of stewardship in every program we run and every initiative we take part in. That includes the TTC Demonstration gardens. LEAF volunteers (often Tree Tender Training graduates) water, mulch, and weed the garden. A lead steward at each site coordinates other volunteers. We have even had volunteer stewards signed up for gardens that haven’t been planted yet!

Volunteers help us with the design and planting of the garden as well, and are able to take part in greening their communities through this initiative in a very tangible way.

Marketing and Media

We sent one of our volunteer photographers to take photos of the gardens; these were made into signs that we had put up in visible locations near the gardens.

We also sent out media releases and advisories to all our media networks, and our project was featured in a few publications, including NOW magazine and the Torontoist.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/newsfront.cfm?content=175204
http://torontoist.com/2012/01/leaf-brings-a-bit-of-wilderness-to-the-ttc/

Funding and Partnerships

Support for this project is provided by the TTC, Ontario Power Generation, Canada TREE Fund, Sobey’s Earth Day Canada and the Helen McCrae Peacock Fund.

Key Learnings

Significant staff time is needed to coordinate volunteers

Volunteers can help you accomplish a lot, but it requires dedicated time and resources to ensure a well-coordinated and rewarding experience for your volunteers. Ensure that you have adeqaute staff resources in place for any projects that involve naturalization of public spaces. Without proper maintenance these sites can become overgrown with weeds and covered with litter. Maintaining a beautiful site is essential!

Use volunteers who live closeby as lead stewards

Volunteers who live near the demonstration gardens are most likely the best candidates for lead steward. It doesn’t take as much time for them to get to the garden, which means they can make more frequent trips for shorter periods of time than volunteers who must travel long distances. When gardens need frequent watering in the hot summer, this arrangement is ideal.

Water access on-site is a must

Having an outdoor spigot that you can attach a hose to on-site ensures water is easily and evenly distributed. Gardens of this size require large volumes of water to adequately water each plant. Carrying water to the site even from a close-by location can prove tiring over the stewardship season. This is especially important during hot, dry spells when gardens may need to be watered up to three times per week and volunteer stewards need to be cautious of their workload in such heat.

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